In a dynamic setting intertemporal effects can arise that render capital rules in banking as advocated by the Basel Committee of Banking Supervision counterproductive. It is quite possible that the banks' desire for excessive risk-taking is being reinforced by a binding capital rule such as the...

The prevailing view in the banking industry is that increased bank capital requirements drag down bank lending. This is because capital is assumed to impose higher funding costs on banks than debts. The leading scholarly view in finance maintains the contrary. We are able to present...

Austria's GDP grew by just 0.3 percent in 2014, making for a sluggish economy for the third year in a row. Causes for the sluggishness were not just continued investment reticence on the part of businesses and muted expenditure on the part of private households but also the lack of any strong...

As of 1997, private adjustable-rate loan contracts must be provided with a clause governing interest rate changes which meets the requirements of the Consumer Protection Act. This legal stipulation is of particular importance for private loans granted by banks and for loans to individuals. More...

During the past ten to fifteen years large manufacturing firms have increasingly entered the field of financial intermediation. This tendency can also be observed in Austria. Between 1973 and 1988 the share of financial assets in total assets held by these firms more than doubled. Large firms...

WIFO's calculations of approximate values for significant, nonfinancial, nonpro-duced assets in Austria by sectors, classified according to the sectoral accounts specified by the European System of Accounts 1995 (ESA 95), provide the first rough estimates of individual central asset categories...

Institutional and structural changes affecting the financial and banking sector in Europe and thus also in Austria provide the background for an analysis of the profitability and competitive situation faced by Austrian banks since the country's accession to the European Union. The analysis is...